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in briefIn briefThe Information Technology and Crisis Management project (ITCM) aims to enhance the interoperability of Information and Communications Technology systems (ICTs), between organisations involved in crisis response, humanitarian emergencies and peace support operations. A common distributed C4I (Consultation, Command, Control, Communications, and Intelligence) system will support advanced planning and cooperative execution of tasks, as well as rapid, secure and reliable exchange of information between peacekeeping forces and international organisations involved in the operations. The ITCM project is a joint venture of the University of Tampere, The Finnish Defence Forces, the Ministry of Defence of Finland, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, and Crisis Management Initiative (CMI). The project also involves industry partners such as the Dedicated Networks of Finland, IBM Finland, the Secgo Group Ltd., and TietoEnator (see Description/Network of Partners). It is evident that a project of this dimension can only have a successful outcome when involving reliable industry partners, which can guarantee information security and delivery of reliable, high quality systems. The ITCM system is a web-based communication, cooperation and management solution for crisis management field operations. The system consists of a middleware layer providing common security, portal, etc., services and a variety of applications - all tailored to the needs of the crisis response operations. The middleware platform is based on open standards developed by the Object Management Group (OMG) and other standardisation bodies. In the development of the system, special attention has been paid to the information security issues of the platform. Openness of the middleware system means well-documented, standard interfaces for integrating different in-house or third party applications into the system by using technologies such as web services and CORBA technologies. CORBA is the acronym for Common Object Request Broker Architecture, OMG’s open vendor-independent architecture and infrastructure that computer applications use to work together over networks. For more information regarding CORBA see: http://www.omg.org/gettingstarted/corbafaq.htm. A high level of information security is a key enabler of interoperability. A reliable identification system, role-based access control and end-to-end encrypted data transmission ensure that organisations involved in the cooperative management practices of field operations do not compromise their integrity. Users and organisations have access only to those functions and documents to which they are entitled to. Goals: The ITCM project, in cooperation with crisis management organisations, will develop and deploy a decision-making support and knowledge management system for crisis response and peace support operations. The product will unify ICTs interfaces used in a field operation into a single standardised entity. The system will be based on open, commercially available components. Specific objectives are:
The ITCM system aims to enhance security and efficiency of the field operations. Therefore, all communications within the system are encrypted and access to different functions and data can be flexibly controlled. Enhanced document management system will build institutional memory inside organisations and in the whole operation. The project will emphasize increased situation awareness and better flow of information. Information sharing enables a more effective use of resources and enhanced management of overall operations. This may eventually lead to a shortened need for international presence in the crisis area, implying significant cost-savings. Structure: The programme is divided into four tracks:1) Systems Development, 2) Turnkey Delivery Capability 3) International Dialogue and 4) Research. Each track consists of multiple subprojects: 1) Systems Development The University of Tampere Hypermedia Laboratory is responsible for the software development together with established ICT companies such as IBM, TietoEnator, the Secgo Group and the Dedicated Networks of Finland. Software development is co-funded by the partner agencies. The three years systems development phase with an annual budget of 250 000 € is fully funded. The system development started in the beginning of 2002 and is proceeding according to schedule. A fully functional and tested system will be demonstrated in September within the Nordic Peace 2003 Partnership for Peace (PfP) exercise in Niinisalo, Finland. 2) Turnkey Delivery Capability The importance of a turnkey delivery capability has become clear during initial discussions with crisis management organisations. The prospective clients for the system should be able to order an up-and-running system with comprehensive support, training and maintenance services from one place. As a part of the ITCM project, an expert working group on International Crisis Management Telecommunication Network Operator (CMO) was set up in May 2002. The working group held numerous working sessions, interviewed experts and participated in several seminars and workshops on the topic. On December 16, 2002, the working group delivered its final report containing a concept for an international network operator. CMO is a concept for an international telecommunications operator providing a comprehensive communications and data transmission solution for the organisations in the crisis area from day one. The CMO concept is designed to provide a communication solution from the immediate emergency situation to a continuous presence in the mission area with the same gradually expanding system. The CMO solution is based on scalable modules that, together with the Rapid Reaction infrastructure, enable a very rapid deployment of the system whenever a crisis breaks out. The initial field implementation tailored for emergency rescue teams can be expanded up to a full-blown professional mobile radio and telecommunications network if needed. The modules of the system are: 1) Rapid Reaction, 2) Fast Enlargement, 3) Continuous Presence, and 4) Standalone Network CMO delivers its solutions on a turnkey basis including planning, procurement, configuring, deployment, training, maintenance, and operating the network systems and end-user terminals. 3) International Dialogue ITCM is organising meetings, workshops and seminars with crisis management organisations to ensure the usability of the IT-system, and to involve the organisations in the system development, fine-tuning and adjustment, so that it will best serve organisations’ field operations. In order to facilitate development and adoption of new crisis management tools, CMI is leading the International Dialogue of the ITCM project, acting as a liaison between international crisis response and management organisations and competent technology partners. CMI takes care of the seminar and workshop organisation, coordinates research and acts as the secretariat for the Crisis Response Executive Advisory TEam (CREATE), (see www.itcm.org/create). On September 29 - October 1, 2002, CMI and OMG co-hosted a seminar on Crisis Management and Information Technology in Helsinki, Finland. The seminar brought together over 70 decision-makers and experts from organisations such as the UN, EU, OSCE, IBM, Sun, Nokia, and Ericsson, to share ideas and discuss what kinds of technologies are needed in the field. A seminar report was published in December 2002. A concrete product of the seminar was the establishment of the CREATE and several international organisations expressed their
willingness to join. The Advisory Team will foster both the ITCM project
and OMG's C4I Domain Task Force (C4I DTF), and ensure that priorities are set correctly
for the work of both bodies. The
Team will advise on the strategic vision for the coming years in
developing ICTs and standards for crisis response. It also creates a
forum that communicates to IT-vendors, the developments and changes in the
needs and requirements of ICTs that crisis management organisations use.
This dialogue would help to deliver interoperable solutions and standards
suited to modern crisis management. The importance of the Advisory Team
will be in the political and commercial weight it hopes to gain, and the
momentum that its recommendations would bring about, while at the same
time not binding any organisation or vendor. Parallel to the Nordic Peace 2003 PfP exercise, CMI and the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) will co-host a conference entitled “Towards Interoperability in Crisis Management” 11-14 of September, 2003. The objective of the September conference is to affirm the commitment of international humanitarian and crisis management organisations to interoperability at the political, organisational, field, and technical levels (see www.itcm.org/seminar). 4) Research Focused research on the crisis management environment and its institutions are an integral part of the project. The research will not only deepen partners understanding of the domain at hand, but it will also help to overcome organisational inertia and avoid potential pitfalls during the deployment of the system. In order to understand the challenges that mission employees face in their everyday work, the system development itself is based on an extensive fieldwork within the United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK). In addition, CMI has commissioned case-study reports regarding the use of information technology in selected international organisations. CMI is also planning to conduct, together with the London School of Economics, research on crisis management processes, operational requirements and deployment of a distributed C4I system. The objective is to identify the information and communications requirements of the international community in live crisis management environments. It is also an objective to conduct complete operational research for a distributed C4I system deployment and the service and management model needed to support it. In addition, the research will identify areas of value-added impact and the cost-benefits of a distributed C4I and ITCM system. For more information, see Description section
on this site.
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